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This report is intended as a technical reference for the husbandry and management of the white-bellied
caique parrot (Pionites leucogaster xanthomeria). This is an ever-evolving document, in which
reproductive, developmental and behavioral information from a closed aviary has been steadily compiled
into categories of avicultural interest since 1994. The study population has been resident at the Rare
Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF) in Loxahatchee, Florida since 1988, and affords the opportunity
to study a finite, genetically diverse, breeding population under a fixed husbandry protocol over many
years.
The white-bellied caique population at RSCF is the source for an in-house Population Management
Program (PMP). The main objectives of the PMP are: (1) to develop consistent husbandry practices for the
maintenance of P. leucogaster in captivity; (2) oversee the demographic and genetic management of P.
leucogaster in zoological collections throughout North America; (3) encourage public/private cooperation
in the management and maintenance of the captive population; (4) collate scientific information for the
evaluation and improvement of captive husbandry practices; and (5) develop long-term strategies for
conservation in the wild, employing the captive population and its database as a living library for research
information and genetic material.
There are five main sections to this report: (1) taxonomy and natural history; (2) husbandry methods; (3)
reproductive data from the study population; (4) demography and genetics of the managed population in the
PMP; and (5) the PMP studbook. The material presented in each section is sufficiently general for use by
zoo curators and professional aviculturists, but also includes specific information derived from the study
population which is likely unique in the avicultural literature. Much of the discussion in each section
focuses upon management considerations for P. leucogaster both within and among zoological institutions
and private breeding facilities. The presentation of population-specific information conforms to formats
for Population Management Programs and Species Survival Plans, as specified by the American Zoo and
Aquarium Association (AZA, 1998)